Over the years, Epomaker has built a reputation for doing something that sounds simple but is actually quite hard: making keyboards that have a genuine identity. Not just a spec sheet with a price tag attached, but something you can look at and immediately know what it’s going for. The RT line has been one of the clearest expressions of that – retro aesthetics, warm pastel tones, and a consistent habit of sneaking in one or two features that make each release feel like more than just an iterative update.
The RT98 is the latest entry in that series, and it arrives with two things Epomaker is clearly betting on as its defining features: a Mini TV smart screen – an evolution of what we first saw on the RT100 and a modular numpad that can be repositioned to either side of the board. On paper, it’s the most ambitious RT keyboard yet. Whether that ambition translates cleanly into real-world use – let’s find out.
Epomaker RT98 is available for purchase over on Epomaker website. Amazon link will be provided once available.
DESIGN
If you’ve been following Epomaker’s RT lineup for a while, the RT98 will feel immediately familiar in the best possible way. The same retro personality is here – rounded case edges, vintage-inspired legends, Cherry profile keycaps in those warm, muted pastel tones that have become something of a signature for this series.
It’s cosy, it’s retro, it’s beautiful
The beige and grey palette doesn’t read as plain or safe; it reads as deliberate and settled. This is a keyboard that will slot comfortably into practically any desk setup, but it really shines if you’re building toward something cosy, warm-toned, or retro-adjacent. The official product images honestly don’t do it full justice – it’s one of those boards that looks noticeably better in person.
Layout-wise, the RT98 sits in the 98% category with 98 keys, which in practice means you’re getting everything a full-size keyboard offers – full function row, numpad, navigation cluster, just arranged more tightly to reduce the overall footprint. The navigation column on the right side, with Home, Delete, Page Up, and Page Down, sits neatly alongside the main cluster without feeling crammed. It’s a sensible layout for anyone who relies on a numpad for work but doesn’t want a full-size board eating up their entire desk.
The built in slope already makes for a comfortable typing surface
Two things immediately stand out as the RT98’s visual and functional centrepieces, and both deserve a proper look.
The first is the modular numpad, which Epomaker has been marketing as one of the headline features here. The concept is genuinely interesting: the numpad can be repositioned to either side of the main keyboard cluster, letting right-handed users keep the default configuration or giving left-handed users the option of a proper Southpaw layout with the numpad on the left. It’s a rare feature in the prebuilt keyboard space, and the thinking behind it is sound.
That said, it’s worth being clear about what “modular” actually means in this context because it’s easy to walk in with the wrong expectations. This isn’t a detachable numpad situation. The RT98 has a fixed-size case, and the numpad always occupies one side of it. You can’t pull it off and suddenly have a compact 75% board; the footprint stays the same regardless of configuration.
“Modularity” here requires some tinkering but is a welcome feature
Repositioning involves unscrewing the back plate, carefully separating the case halves, swapping the ribbon cable connecting the numpad to the other side, and putting everything back together. It’s a one-time hardware configuration more than something you’d flip casually between sessions.
Once you’ve accepted that framing, though, the left-side configuration actually opens up a use case that’s more compelling than it might initially seem. Running the numpad on the left puts it right alongside your WASD cluster, which effectively turns it into a dedicated macropad for gaming with extra keys within easy reach of your left hand without stretching. It works well, and for the right kind of user, it’s a genuinely useful setup.
The retro TV screen is an awesome feature that fits the design well
The second standout is the Mini TV screen, positioned just above the navigation column on the right side of the board. Epomaker has used a small TFT display on keyboards before – most notably on the RT100, but the implementation here is a clear step forward.
The screen now connects via a magnetic pinned connector, making it more secure, more elegant, and considerably less fiddly than previous versions. At a glance it gives you time, date, battery percentage, connection mode, and keyboard status indicators, and it doubles as a customisable display for images and animated GIFs through Epomaker’s Image Tool software.
Useful information at a glance
The screen looks great and adds real personality to the board. My only reservation is about placement. Most users will run the numpad in its default right-side position which means the screen ends up sitting between the main key cluster and the numpad, offset toward the right side of the board. It disrupts the design flow slightly, and I think the keyboard would look considerably more cohesive if the screen were positioned somewhere on the left side instead. It’s a minor thing in the grand scheme, but it’s the kind of detail you notice once and keep noticing.
RGB is present across the board with per-key south-facing lighting, and with the standard beige PBT keycaps it produces that classic underglow-around-the-edges look rather than full shine-through. It’s clean and not overdone, which suits the retro aesthetic well.
BUILD AND FEEL
The RT98 is an all-ABS plastic board, and at 1.2kg it makes a substantial impression on the desk. A good portion of that weight comes from the 8000mAh battery tucked inside, but the chassis itself feels well put together as there’s no flex, no creaking, nothing rattling around no matter how you handle it. For a board this long, that kind of structural solidity is worth calling out specifically, because long plastic cases are often where you first start to hear complaints about chassis rigidity.
The finish is smooth rather than textured, which feels pleasant to the touch but does raise the usual questions about long-term scratch resistance on an ABS surface. The underside keeps things practical with rubber feet and two-stage flip-out kickstands for adjustable typing angles – nothing flashy, but everything you’d want.
The keycap color is so soft and satisfying
Internally, the RT98 uses Epomaker’s patented gasket-mount structure combined with a multi-layer sound dampening stack, and the combination delivers a typing surface that feels controlled and comfortable without crossing into the over-damped, dead-feeling territory that affects some heavily foamed boards.
There’s a genuine softness to the deck and the gasket flex is subtle but present, making a real difference over longer sessions by reducing the harsh rebound you get from tray-mount and top-mount designs. The PC plate within the structure adds a little acoustic brightness that keeps the sound profile from going completely flat.
The GIF animation on the screen is super smooth
The hot-swappable PCB supports both 3-pin and 5-pin switches, which means customisation is genuinely accessible here. Keycaps are Cherry profile PBT with clean, consistent legends that won’t shine up or wear out under regular use.
Our review unit came with Creamy Jade linear switches with 45g of actuation force and these pair with the structure beautifully. Not only do they bottom out smoothly but the sound profile falls somewhere between thocky and creamy and is in line with the whole cosy vibe of the keyboard. As always with Epomaker boards, if the stock switches aren’t doing it for you, the hot-swap support means swapping them out takes about five minutes and zero tools beyond the included puller.
PERFORMANCE
The RT98 covers the connectivity bases you’d expect from a modern wireless keyboard: wired USB-C, 2.4GHz wireless via the included dongle stored in a dedicated compartment on the back, and Bluetooth 5.1 with support for pairing up to three devices. All three modes held up reliably in testing with no random dropouts, no delays on wake, no instability switching between devices. For anything where responsiveness matters, 2.4GHz and wired are the sensible choices; Bluetooth is comfortable for productivity and casual use where you’re bouncing between a laptop, tablet, or secondary machine.
Jade linear switches are silky smooth and sound great
N-key rollover ensures simultaneous inputs are registered accurately, which matters for gaming, and performance during actual gameplay sessions was consistent and problem-free throughout testing.
Battery life is one of the RT98’s genuine strengths. The 8000mAh cell means you’re looking at around a week of regular use with the screen and RGB both running. Turn the lighting off and keep the screen on minimal content, and that figure extends considerably further – realistically into several weeks of daily use. It’s not the kind of keyboard you’ll find yourself hunting for a cable every few days.
Everything you need is right here in the middle of the keyboard
On the software side, Epomaker has paired the RT98 with two tools and the combination is one of the better setups the brand has shipped. VIA handles all the customisation you’d want from a keyboard driver. Stuff like key remapping, macro programming, layer management, RGB controls without requiring a dedicated installed application, which is always welcome. The Image Tool, accessed separately through a browser-based interface, handles everything related to the Mini TV screen: uploading custom GIFs and images, setting up the system monitoring widgets, and adjusting display behavior.
Neither tool is going to win awards for visual polish, but both are functional and clear enough that you won’t spend twenty minutes trying to figure out where a setting lives. The VIA integration in particular is a meaningful step up from the proprietary software solutions Epomaker has shipped on some other models, meaning the RT98 sits within an established, well-documented ecosystem rather than being dependent on Epomaker keeping their own driver updated indefinitely.
There’s a separate app for uploading images and GIF’s to the screen
CONCLUSION
The RT98 is the most complete RT keyboard Epomaker has shipped yet, and its two headline features tell you a lot about where the brand’s head is at. The Mini TV screen is the real deal as it’s implemented better than anything we’ve seen from them before, practical enough to justify its presence, and genuinely adding to the board’s personality.
The modular numpad is a more nuanced story: this is a repositionable numpad inside a fixed case, not a detachable one, and walking in with the right expectations matters. Once you do, the Southpaw configuration – especially as a makeshift macropad for gaming – turns out to be a legitimately useful setup.
Everything else the RT98 does, it does well. Gasket-mounted typing feel, solid out-of-the-box sound, reliable tri-mode wireless, and a battery that comfortably outlasts weekly charging cycles. The ABS case and the screen’s slightly awkward placement when the numpad sits on the right are the most noticeable shortcomings, but neither changes the bigger picture. At this price, it’s an easy recommendation. Just as long as you know what kind of “modular” you’re actually getting.
